WITH striking Tube staff reducing the London Underground to a skeleton service tomorrow, many commuters will be tempted to make use of one of the oldest travel routes in the world - the River Thames.

"Historically, the service has come under extreme pressure during major Tube disruption and passengers can be assured the team will be doing everything they can to get them to their destination.

A spokesman for Thames Clippers

The Thames Clippers travels from Putney in south-west London to Woolwich in the south-east of the city and is, by many accounts, one of the most stylish ways of seeing the capital.

Additional riverboats have been made available because of the Tube strike, which begins tonight at 9pm and will affect services until Friday morning.

Extra boats will also be laid on for fans leaving Taylor Swift's show at the O2 in Greenwich this evening.

A spokesman for Thames Clippers said: "Historically, the service has come under extreme pressure during major Tube disruption and passengers can be assured the team will be doing everything they can to get them to their destination.

"To help Thames Clippers optimise the capacity throughout the commuter hours customers are kindly requested to stagger their journeys as much as possible and leave extra time."

The boats stop at the O2, Canary Wharf, The Tower of London, London Bridge, Blackfrairs, the Tate Modern, and the London Eye.

It is considered one of the best ways to travel because of the famous sights the trip takes in.

Extra boats have been laid on for Taylor Swift fans leaving the O2 tonight [GETTY]

Additionally, the Thames Clipper also runs a rush hour service from Putney to Blackfriars, departing Putney from 6am until 9.35am. The last service in the evening departs Blackfriars at 8.25pm.

Despite the Thames being an historic waterway through one of the largest cities in the world, it is often the forgotten man when it comes to modern day transport.

Founded in 1999, Thames Clippers began with one boat servicing 80 passengers a day between Greenland and Savoy piers.

It now deals with more than three million passengers a year.

Since being taken over by AEG in 2006 - the same company which own the O2 in Greenwich - the fleet has substantially grown to 13 vessels.

In 2009, journalist Andrew Gilligan said "the neglect of the river is one of London’s great transport scandals" as he praised the Thames Clippers.

Comparing it the £15billion Crossrail project which will link Maidenhead in the west to Shenfield in the east, Mr Gilligan - now the London Mayor Boris Johnson’s cycling tsar - said: "We already have a waterborne Crossrail, an almost unused six-lane highway through the middle of the city, which could be brought into the full embrace of the TfL (Transport for London) system for a fraction of the cost."

Despite its potential importance - and the fact it could help relieve busy Tubes and buses - the Thames Clippers are not fully integrated into the Oyster card network.

Commuters can get a 10 per cent discount if they have an Oyster, but only if they have money on their card as it does not support auto top-up or tap-in tap-out. Oyster pay as you go fares are £5.85 for a single trip.

Travelcard holders can get a third off their tickets, which cost £4.30 for each trip.

For more information, and to book tickets, visit www.thamesclippers.com